Krieger Makes Return Trip To Worcester
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Alex Krieger, founding principal, Chan Krieger NBBJ.
Downtowns across the country have changed quite a bit since Alex Krieger did his first master planning project in Worcester almost two decades ago.
Krieger, one of the founding principals at Cambridge planning and architecture firm Chan Krieger NBBJ, was first hired by David Forsberg, now director of the Worcester Business Development Corp., in the mid 1990s to help guide the city through four major redevelopment projects.
More on Krieger's current involvement in Worcester's downtown.
There were plans to refurbish Union Station and turn it into a commuter's hub. Med City, which is now Saint Vincent Hospital, was also in the planning stages, as well as the redevelopment of the convention center. And, of course, there were discussions about what to do with the Worcester Common Outlets mall.
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Since then, many of those projects are complete or underway, which Krieger said has brought new life and vitality to Worcester's downtown.
"Those four anchors really put the city on a path forward to be renovated and revived," he said. And now, he said, there are even more promising signs in the city.
Gateway Park has broken ground on a second major building. Demolition work is underway at CitySquare and rail giant CSX is moving forward with plans to make Worcester its regional hub.
The evolution, Krieger said, is similar to what he said is being seen across the country in revitalized urban areas like Chicago, Boston, and New York, which are all seeing more activity and a renewed emphasis on the downtown.
Krieger, who is a past chair of the urban development department at Harvard University, said there is a generational shift influencing the renewed interest in downtowns. Economic factors have made it more cost efficient for people to live in urban areas, while cities offer the chance for residents to be green by taking advantage of public transportation and being within walking distance to various activities.
Plus, Krieger said, people generally live longer and enter their married-with-children periods of life later, giving young professionals more time to live in urban areas.
"It's really a function of the whole dynamics of America," Krieger said. And Worcester's downtown is tapping into that, he believes. "It hasn't been a miraculous change, but (the downtown) seems more active, a bit more mixed use, a little cleaner and better maintained," he said about Worcester. "Can it get better? Of course."
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